Last night it was decided, and today verified, that the race
will stick to the planned route despite the weather. It is not nearly as bad as
last year, but it is cold and snow is expected on the Stelvio.

DNS: EBH

*Pozzovivo has bronchitis.

A short 5+k descent from the start takes the race right to
the base of the Gavia.

*Break: Chalapud (COL)
is out alone.

cat-1 Passo di Gavia:
16.5k, from 1298m up to 2618m (1320m drop); Maxes out around 16% at ~ -9.5k
from the summit. Overall about 8% avg grade, but most of the climb averages
over 8.5%.

Chalapud leads by :30 with 120k to go, two-thirds up the
Gavia;

Movistar is leading the dwindling chase group, with
Arredondo near the front...

*Chalapud is 1st over Gavia. Then Arredondo...

...a gap, then Pantano, Swift, Losada, Capecchi, Hesjedal...

Arredondo is picked up on the descent.

*Snowing on top of the Stelvio now, temp is 32 f.

*The Stelvio Pass is 21.7k long, climbing up to 2758m (~
9050 ft), averaging close to 7%, max of 12%, and is, of course, the Cima Coppi
of this year's edition.

Val Martello (22.35k, Avg ~6.5% (it's a staircase); Max 14% in
a couple sections, one near the top; climbs from 661m to 2059 (1398m drop).
After the 3k-long plateau and descent (that starts at about -4.5k) and before
the final couple hundred meters to the line, comes a 1k-long incline averaging
over 12.5%.

Nathan Haas: "That was colder than the time when I
stared Chuck Norris in the eyes."

And, of course, JV:

"Once again, cycling fails to protect its own athletes.
Finance and interests precede riders' well being."

Bernie Eisel (himself a UCI rider rep):

"I'd
don't think we've achieved anything by racing today,"

"At
the end of the day the stage became like ancient Rome or like modern Hunger
Games. I'm actually surprised that winner of the stage doesn't have to fight
with tigers. It was just a show for television, for the fans, like in ancient
Rome. I think it's sick. I got up there OK and we're not afraid of fighting in
a race and giving everything but when it's just about seeing people in the
snow, it's stupid."

**Many teams protested the results, contending that
Quintana, Rolland and Hesjedal gained an unfair advantage on the descent of the
Stelvio (2nd climb), as a result of the confusing directions coming across race
radio from the race officials, due to the weather.

The radio announcement:

“Attention: A communication to directeur sportives. The
management of the organization have planned to put ahead of the head of the
riders, depending on the situation, of course, after the top, to place in front
of various groups an organization moto with a red flag. All to avoid having
attacks on the descent and after this to ensure that the riders remain in their
positions and to prevent taking big risks and, for all, to remain in this
position until the security agents lower the red flag.”

The word "neutralized" never appears, but a tweet
on the race’s official twitter feed stated: “Stelvio descent neutralized due to snow.” The tweet was later
deleted, but not before some fans were able to take a screen grab of it.

After the race, organizers
RCS denied that they had ever intended to neutralize the descent of the
Stelvio. RCS sport boss Mauro Vegni, said that the confusion was down to
misunderstanding on the side of the teams and riders. “No one ever spoke of
neutralization. To protect the riders, in conditions of poor visibility we decided
to place the bikes to indicate the trajectory.”

"I
think in normal circumstances the story of the race probably could have been
different,"

"Now
I am 1:41 minutes down from Quintana in the overall classification. But the
Giro is not finished yet. We will keep going, we will try to take back the maglia rosa. We are not done fighting for
pink."

Omega
Pharma-Quick Step DS, Davide Bramati gave his riders the latest info from race
radio, and told them to watch out for any possible attacks.

"On
the Stelvio I heard from Davide Bramati that the downhill will be controlled by
motos with a red flag for the safety of the riders, and that we could have
maintained our position on the descent without attacking," Urán said.

"He
told me to put on my rain jacket and pay attention in any case. At 300 or 400
meters I had my jacket from one of our masseurs. I managed to wear my jacket
before the top so at that point I didn't stop at the top like a few of my
colleagues did. I then started descending, but I didn't see any
motorbike."

"During
the descent riders came around me. I saw [Rafal] Majka and other guys but I
didn't realize Quintana wasn't there," said Urán.

"I
only did a few kilometers when Bramati told me the gap was already significant.
So, we then organized our chase. That is how it went."

[Editorial: The riders may have gotten instructions from
their DS's to ignore the race radio announcement; or they may have never gotten
clear directions on the situational instructions--or received no
instructions--or they each may have a different reason for what actually
transpired. Several possibilities exist. Regardless, I don't see how they (the
escapees) can be comfortable with an advantage gained unfairly. If they
understood and ignored the instructions, then they are culpable, but ultimately
I think this is the race officials' mistake.

The officials blew it by confusing the issue, and sending arcane
and (ultimately) conflicting directions to the teams. They should have been
more decisive and clear. The rules say they can't take time off later (after
the stage results were posted), so there was no way to solve the issue with
universal fairness; but they ought to have recognized the unfairness of the downhill
attack and taken measures during the race. Most folks probably would admit that
Quintana was masterful on the final climb, and deserved the win, but they [the
Stelvio descent attackers] should all have about a minute shaved off their
time.]**

**See stg 17 summary for more...

*******************************************************************

STAGE 17:

Wed May 28, 2014

Stage 17:

204k from Sarnonico to Vittorio Veneto;

mostly flat, some scattered short, steep kicks in the last 60k
for launchpads; flat finish on a slight incline.

Weather: on-and-off rain, mostly in the latter half of the
stage.

Break (26): Large
break is allowed to go clear, collect a big gap, and succeeds.

1. Pirazzi2.
Wellens3. McCarthy4. De Gendt5. Montaguti

I'm going to forego a detailed stage description and
summary, and talk about the controversy instead.

“Remember
San Remo last year, the Giro last year, and now yesterday. Mr Vegni should go
home. For me he should resign. He’s not from this cycling any more. He doesn’t
care about the riders. This isn’t the first time; it’s always him. I pay the
riders, not him, and I had a few million Euros riding around and they give us
shit, 60,000 to ride the race. We put a lot into riding that race.”

The
men in charge are the race organisers, not the UCI commissars and we have proof
that on the top of the Stelvio the radio said there would be motorbikes with
flags and that no risks would be taken and that at the end of the descent every
group could start with the gaps they had at the top. Then afterwards the Giro
d’Italia removed their Tweet about the neutralization. Then, and how can you be
more of a coward than this, they put the guilt on the man from radio. It wasn’t
his decision. I think they just changed their minds because they were happy
that Quintana, Hesjedal and Rolland were in a break and it was nice for the
Giro...

That’s
not how you should manage a race. If you say something you don’t step backwards
after you’ve said it. Call Riis, call [Trek Factory Racing team manager, Luca] Guercilena,
call [Astana manager Giuseppe] Martinelli, and others. They were all upset
because their riders were stopping on the Stelvio, changing clothes because of
the things that were said.”

He
went on:

“If
you’re a Formula One driver and you pass the safety car then you’re
automatically out of the race. A red flag is a red flag. It means that you
don’t start racing before the flag is down.

No
one can say they didn’t understand. We’ve all known Mr Eusebio Unzué for a long
time. He never says yes he never says no and he’s not the most honest man.”

As
to Vegni:

“He’s even worse because he did
something like this last year. The Giro hasn’t been stolen from us, but the
pink jersey has. It’s not about whether Quintana is the best climber it’s about
principles. Urán might have lost the jersey, he might have lost it later in the
race. Cycling wants to become a big sport but it’s never going to become a big
sport if it’s run like this.

“I
saw a photo of Swift in the middle of no where, just standing there. Riders
were crashing and I heard that Petacchi hit a car on the descent. He’s 40
year’s old and he’s had enough. We only see the break but we don’t see the
misery at the back.”

**Before the stage, team managers met to discuss yesterday's
big fumble by the organizers. Several teams asked for a time penalty of :55 to
be taken from the riders who benefitted from the Stelvio descent attacks. They
were denied.

The officials really did cause confusion with an ad hoc and
ill-timed announcement that the riders would have to watch the leading
motorbikes for a red flag, which would signify a slower pace on the downhill
bends. It was done with the well-intentioned goal of protecting the riders'
safety in bad weather, but broadcasters, at least, misinterpreted and relayed
the announcement as a time-neutralization for the descent.

Riders doubtless received conflicting, if any, directions on
race radio, so it is certainly possible that the attackers were unaware of
taking any unfair advantage.The
officials only made the announcement near the Stelvio summit, so there was
insufficient time for the teams to process and act on the announcement.

Rigoberto Uran (OPQ) lost the pink jersey to Quintana after
the stage. He and Cadel Evans (BMC) are among the many who sat up at the
Stelvio summit, many stopping to change clothes for the descent.

After protests by Movistar team DS Eusebio Unzue, team
directors met Wednesday morning to discuss the stage 16 Stelvio attack
controversy. BMC and OPQ were among the teams who understood the descent to
have been neutralized, and are calling for justice. The AIGCP agreed to request
:55 be subtracted from Quintana's overall time (and, I think the rest of the
Stelvio descent attackers' times).

They then met with RCS (the Giro race organizers) directors,
Mauro Vegni and Stefano Allocchio, and the race's UCI officials, to make an
official request.

The UCI judges rejected the request, and the stage's posted
times will stand.

Some perspectives:

QUINTANA:
"Really, I don’t know if what they are saying is a joke," he said.
"It makes me laugh, because in reality everyone present and everyone who
watches on TV knows what really happened. It’s like I went down the Stelvio in
a car or on a motorbike. I came down in a bike on the same roads everyone else
came down and then I climbed well afterwards.

"If
I’d come down in a car, or taken a short cut and they wanted to take two
minutes off me, then I’d agree with that, but I did the same route as everyone
else and I won. I don’t know why they would want to take time off me."

ROLLAND:
“I started the descent of the Stelvio in the first few riders because on the
way down the Gavia a lot of riders had attacked on the descent,” Rolland said.
“I attacked it with my teammate Romain [Sicard] and we were first and second in
the group. But we did the descent very calmly because we didn’t want to take
risks; that’s all.

“Then
Quintana came back up and was going very fast. Romain went after him and then I
passed Romain just to follow Quintana. For a long time, it was just the two of
us and then [Gorka] Izaguirre caught up and he did the whole end of the descent
à fond – full on.”

He also mentioned that the riders had spoken earlier about
neutralizing the Gavia, but after a Katusha rider attacked (Losada?), it was
open season.

HESJEDAL:
"Tell me what a neutralized descent is? Does everyone just stop?"

"If
you're serious about the race and especially if you're in the pink jersey, you
should have been at the head of affairs. End of story. Everyone rode down the
descent and that was it."

As to the radio instructions regarding following a pace moto
with a red flag to designate slowing/no attacking on the descent of the Stelvio
climb:

"I just followed the guys that were
ahead of me on the GC. There was stuff and people everywhere. I just rode the
descent. I was basically on my own for the whole descent. I connected with
those guys (the Quintana, Rolland group) at the bottom."

"At
that moment you're just trying to stay safe and get through it. I wasn't
thinking about anything except my wellbeing and riding down the hill."

OLEG
TINKOFF: "The results of yesterday's stages should have been neutralized,
they should have cancelled them all,"

"That's
my personal opinion. I was at the top of the Stelvio because I'd ridden up and
I saw Quintana attack while the others stopped to get changed."

"If
this sport wants to get bigger, it has got to change. What happened is
incredible. We've got to have clear rules, a more professional race
organization. At the moment it’s just a big mess.”

After the first fast 5k of the stage, the riders will climb 400m
(from 374m to 774m) over a 30km distance (Avg ~1.33%?).Then comes the 18.5k, cat. 1 Pellegrino climb. It averages 6.2%, and
has a max of 15% about two-thirds of the way up. The first 9k avg about 4% only,
with sections going up to 8-9%, and plenty of flat sections as well, for
recovery. The next 3k avg close to 7%; then comes over 5k of steep climbing,
averaging almost 10%--including the 15% max at -5k. The final km to the 1918-meter
high summit levels out at around 3%.

Next they descend the Pellegrino for about 11k, and continue
over rolling terrain until km 108. A punchy climb to a long plateau takes them
to the base of the second categorized climb: the cat.-2 Redebus, which starts out very steep (~ 15% at the bottom). It climbs
411 m over 4.8k (avg 8.5%) up to 1456m of elevation, and looks like a great
attack spot. (also listed as 4.6k at 8.7%) The summit is just over 48k from the
stage finish atop the Panarotta.

A 15k descent follows, with about a 1000m drop, and then it's
about 15k of relative flats to the base of the final climb.

From Levico Terme, the cat. 1 Rifugio Panarotta climb is about 15.8k long, with a 1260m drop, averaging
about 7.9%, with a very steady gradient throughout (steephill lists it as 14.9k
at 7.6%). It maxes out at 14%, and the final 3k average 8.4% (the final 2k a
very steady 8.7%), and it tops out at the 1760m-high finish line.

*DNS: Ulissi.

BREAK: at -125k:
Cataldo (SKY), Pellizotti, Sella (AND), Zardini (BAR), and Arredondo (TFR) get
free. They are making time up the Pellegrino;

-120k: De Gendt, Deignan, and Rovny are catching up to the
leaders...

Basso and Rabottini are chasing somewhere.

Also among the many chasers spread over the stage's big
first climb are: Rubiano, Keizer, Wellens, Duarte, Losada,...

Kenny De Haes lost his chain and is getting manually pushed
up the mountain by a helper, [until he finally gets a bike change?].

Boem holds the lead as the first real climbers take to the
course.

Bardiani is setting the best paces now.

*Pirazzi crosses
the line with a new best time of 1:10:11. The top 3 are all Bardiani: Pirazzi,
Colbrelli, Boem.

All the riders have left the start gate by now.

*Wellens has
taken the lead from Pirazzi, who is :34 back now; Zoidl is 3rd at :42; then Zardini
and Mourey.

Cataldo comes in 2nd, :10 back at 1:09:47.

Sebastian Henao
has set the best times at the 2nd time check and takes the lead at the finish.

Majka has a shaky start, and a clumsy bike change.

Pozzovivo sets the best time at the first time check.

Rolland sets a better one;

Aru beats that time.

Kelderman has lost 1:30 already, at the 2nd time check.

Pozzovivo sets the new best time at the 2nd check;

...and then Aru sets a better one.

Pellizotti comes
in with the new best time at the finish.

Uran sets the 2nd best time at the 1st (km19.3) checkpoint,
:28 off the top pace set by Aru.

8k to go for Aru. He is outpacing Quintana by about :14.

Quintana sets the new best time at the first time check!
He's got :08 on Aru's time there.

1:10:03 is good for 5th place at the finish for Cadel Evans...for now.

Quintana is gaining time on Aru.

Pozzovivo is catching Hesjedal on the road, his 3-minute
man.

Aru catches up with Majka, his 3-minute man, almost
simultaneously.

Kelderman
finishes with the current 10th best time: 1:10:29. 1:30 off the lead. Not so
good.

Evans jumps Kelderman on GC.

Aru and Quintana are riding within a :01 pace of each other
now.

-4.8k for Aru: he and NQ are in pace with each other.

Pozzovivo
finishes with the new best time: 1:08:01.

Pellizotti currently 2nd at + :58

3. Henao + 1:24

4. Wellens 1:36

5. Cataldo 1:46

...but that's all about to change...

Hesjedal finishes
at 1:11:16, 21st place, +3:15. Ouch. (He had a slipped chain requiring a bike
change on course. He also opted for the road bike with aero bars for the first
10k instead of a TT bike, like most chose to use.)

Aru is coming in with a sterling time...

Aru: 1:05:54!

Majka rolls in a
few meters behind Aru. He hasn't had fun today.

Aru takes the lead by more than 2 minutes!

Uran needs to finish faster than 1:07:44 to hold 2nd place
overall.

Rolland is toiling through the last km...

Rolland finishes
at 1:07:34 for 2nd place, at + 1:40.

Quintana is setting a very nice pace behind Uran, who is in
the last km.

Uran comes in at
1:07:03. 2nd place currently; 1:09 back. He keeps his 2nd podium position on
GC.

Here comes Quintana...

He is lapping up the final slopes...

Quintana comes in
at 1:05:37! He wins the stage and stamps his dominance on the race.

Stage 19 ITT Results:

1. Quintana 1:05:37

2. Aru + :17

3. Uran 1:26

4. Rolland 1:57

5. Pozzovivo 2:24

6. Pellizotti 3:22

7. Majka 3:28

8. Henao 3:48

9. Wellens 4:00

10 Cataldo 4:10

11. Evans 4:26

12. Pirazzi 4:34

13. Zoidl 4:42

14. Zardini 4:46

15. Mourey ST

16. Kelderman 4:52

17. Battaglin 5:11

18. Geniez ST

19. Dupont 5:20

20. Torres 5:22

21. Kiserlovski 5:26

26. Hesjedal 5:39

27. Monfort 5:53

30. Poels 6:15

47. Basso 7:12

48. Landa 7:14

New GC going into the final mountain stage to the Zoncolan:

1. Quintana 79:03:45

2. Uran + 3:07

3. Aru 3:48

4. Rolland 5:26

5. Pozzovivo 6:16

6. Majka 6:59

7. Evans 9:25

8. Kelderman 9:29

9. Hesjedal 10:11

10 Kiserlovski 13:59

Rolland, Pozzovivo, and Majka will have their work cut out
for them if they want to wrestle a podium spot away from Uran or Aru tomorrow
on the Zoncolan.

DNS: Kenny De Haes broke his chain twice yesterday on the
stage 19 mountain TT, at -5k and again at -1k. The team cars were attending
other riders, and he received no neutral service support. A bystander helped
him fix the first one, but we saw him being pushed by a team staffer through
the final several hundred meters to the line. He lost a whole lot of time
without support, and was disqualified for failing to finish inside the time
limit.

That is outrageous.

Afterwards De Haes tweeted:

"Thx ‪@giroditalia! You've treated me like an animal on
Gavia and Stelvio and now after 2 mechanicals I need to go home! Grande Giro di
merda,”

Today's parcours: 1st 60k are relatively flat, but
bumpy. Then comes 30+ kms of slightly ascending, rolling roads to the base of
the first climb. The cat-1 Passo del
Pura is 11.25k, averaging 7.7%, maxing out at 13% near the top, at 1428
meters of elevation (that's an 869m drop). A 7.4k descent takes them down to
984 meters for a 3k clip to the foot of the 2nd climb: the Sella di Razzo, a 17.25k staircase up to 1810 meters.

A long 28k descent follows, before the very brief approach
to the final climb to the finish. The mighty and intimidating Zoncolan, the "Kaiser of
Friuli", climbs 1200 meters over a distance of 10.1k. Most of the climb is
in the double digits (5k in the middle average 15.4%), with pitches up over
22%. The summit finish is at 1730m of elevation.

On 1st climb:
cat-1 Passo del Pura (see stats above). The first 4k only average around 5%,
but the final 7 km steadily average over 9%, maxing out around 13% about 1500
meters before the finish. The road also levels out to under 4% in the last few
hundred meters.

Hondo dropped on the Pura climb.

Chalapud is out alone chasing, just ahead of the peloton.

-66k: Lead group has 2:08 on Chalapud, and 2:15 on the
peloton.

*Cataldo takes the 1st summit.

At 60k to go it's 2:30 to Chalapud, and 3:34 to the peloton.

Onto the 2nd climb.

The Sella di Razzo is an undulating 17.25k, with slopes
ranging from flat to 15%. It has a couple of flat kms in the middle, before the
steepest section, 3k averaging over 9%, with the 15% section near the top. That
is followed by a flat--and even slightly downhill--couple of kms to the KOM
line.The summit is situated in a
crater-like bowl, so the tifosi have lots of viewing positions.

Pantano and a Katusha rider are having a discussion a few
meters ahead of the peloton.

-47k: Zardini has joined Wellens and Chalapud.

Now Tjallingi's having another go, and gets on with the trio
just mentioned.

8 Movistar riders lead the pack up the Sella di Razzo.

A few guys are trying to break away from the peloton.

EUC come forward to help pace.

At -46k the lead to Pink is 6:24. Chasers are at +:56. About
halfway up the climb now.

Chalapud and Wellens are really putting on the gas. They've
dropped Tjallingi, and are distancing Zardini.

-43.7k: Wellens catches up to the lead group. Chalapud gets
on soon after.

-42.1k: Sicard and Rolland put in an acceleration at the
front of the peloton.

Movistar mark
the move.

moments later Sicard launches again, catching Jackson
Rodriguez from the early break. Pozzovivo and majka push out of the pack, as
all the GC guys are looking around at each other.

Geschke is working on the front for the leaders--and his
teammate, Preidler, as they approach the summit of the cat-2 Sella di Razzo.

*-41.2k: Cataldo takes the 2nd KOM ahead of Monsalve and
Preidler.

Big descent ahead...

-40k the lead to pink is 4:10.

Majka and Pozzovivo are with Sicard, just 10 meters in front
of the pack now. Movistar is reeling them back in.

From C-Cycling:

"Monte
Zoncolan was first used in 2003 with Gilberto Simoni as the winner. For many,
especially the Italians, the most memorable fight that day was between Stefano
Garzelli and Marco Pantani. The two good friends and former team mates -
looking almost identical - were struggling to catch Simoni and just to keep
their bikes moving forward. You can re-watch the stage by clicking here."

Evans and Hesjedal are missing from the pink jersey group at
the summit of the Sella di Razzo.

Monsalve and Bookwalter are soaring down the descent.

30k to go for the leaders. The GC group is 5:50 back, and
not taking any risks, so the gap is growing.

-21k: The peloton trails by 6:44.

It is not looking like the GC riders are going to duke this
out for the stage. The break has a solid lead approaching the final climb,
despite its severity.

*ONTO the ZONCOLAN:

A large banner above and on both sides of the road, like a
huge doorway, reads: "This is the gate of hell," a la Dante.

10k to go.

No team cars allowed on the Zoncolan.

Quintana, Anton, and Amador start the final climb with a big
acceleration.

After the 22% section, Pellizotti, Rogers, Preidler,
Bongiorno, and Geschke are the remaining leaders up front. Others from the break are spread out
along the mountain.

Aru is falling back a bit.

Hesjedal struggling.

-6k: Just Bongiorno, Rogers and Pellizotti in front now...

If Bongiorno wins today, I am going to suspect foul play
from Bardiani. Many of them have been quite outstanding--particularly for a
wildcard team.

Kiserlovski out of the saddle, accelerating slowly away from
the pink jersey "peloton".

He's reeled in, but the group is down to about 10 riders now.

Aru is all over the bike trying to cling to the back of the
GC group.

Quintana still has Anton (who won here last time, in 2011),
then there's Uran, Rolland, Pozzovivo, Majka, Kiserlovski, Aru, Kelderman.

-3.7k: Bongiorno attacks Rogers in front. Pellizotti is not
with them. He has faded back again. Rogers stays with Bongiorno.

**-2.9k Following an acceleration by Rogers, Bongiorno gets
a push from a fan in a World Champ jersey, and it takes him off balance on the very
steep grade. His left foot comes out of the pedal, and he loses Rogers' wheel! What
a shame.

He takes a couple seconds to get his pedal and tempo back,
but Rogers has gone ahead. What an unbelievable disaster for the Italian! The
fan is upset with himself, but it's too late now. The gap is huge already. The
(probably) Italian fan just handed the stage to Mick Rogers, by knocking his
own countryman out; and in the process, robbing all the fans of the race for
the win on the Queen stage to the Zoncolan. No doubt the Italian press will
castrate this poor kid. But maybe it will wake fans up to the necessity of
keeping themselves away from the riders. I can only imagine how Bongiorno
feels.

-2k for Rogers.

Poels is still leading Uran up the Zoncolan, with Quintana
riding wheels. Great show from Wout Poels today! They catch up to Serry (from
the break). That's 3 OPQ riders, and NQ riding together now.

About :17 behind: Pozzovivo, Aru and Majka chase.

Rogers is getting furious with the tifosi. They are crowding him up the mountain. He yells a few words
and emphatically swats them away.

Pellizotti cruises past Bongiorno in the last km.

Rogers pumps the air and celebrates his 2nd stage win as he
crosses the line atop Monte Zoncolan!

The Aussie had just one race day in his legs before coming
to the Giro and now he has 2 stage wins (stages 11 and 20), including the most
prestigious one! Not bad Mr. Rogers.

+:38 to Pellizotti, in 2nd place.

:49 to Bongiorno, in third.

We can only wonder how else it may have gone...

THE BREAK SUCCEEDS AGAIN.

It would have been nice to see the GC guys go for it today;
but Nairo Quintana defended his overall lead, and will win the 2014 Giro
d'Italia when he rolls into Trieste tomorrow.

Survivors from the break trickle in.

Roche is 4th at 1:35;

Holy shit! Brent Bookwalter crosses in 5th place at 1:37! Fantastic
performance from the American!

6th is Chalapud at 1:46;

7. Preidler 1:52

8. Monfort 2:12

9. Cataldo 2:24

10. Geschke 2:37

11. Cattaneo 2:39

12. Monsalve 3:02

13. Zoidl 3:14

14. Domont 3:21

15. Belkov 3:46

16. ZardiniST

Quintana crosses the line 17th at 4:45, with Uran right
behind him in 18th.

*J-Rod DNS stg 7.
Withdraws after stage 6 crash, with 3 broken ribs and thumb (apparently, one
rib was already broken, and today he broke 2 more). Two real contenders are out
before the race even reaches the first real mountain stage (Martin and Purito).

Inside 60k to go the lead is 7:51. The flat, first
two-thirds of the stage are behind them, as they approach the hilly remaining
60k. Ahead are a cat 3, a cat 4, and the cat 1 summit finish.

It is increasingly likely that the GC guys will let the break
go.

-50k, lead is 6:29.

Kruijswijk abandoned (been riding on broken shoulder).

-28k 4:37;

-25.6k: Tanner escapes the lead grp.

Tanner reeled in and Weening attacks.

Malacarne has also ventured out.

At -18k he has ~3:30 over the peloton. Is this the winning
move?

-8k Weening and Malacarne have 3:53 on the peloton; and I
think about 1:30 to 2:00 to the chasing, erstwhile lead group.

Kirby says the temps are up to 20c.

Pozzovivo escapes the bunch and gets on his teammate Berard's
wheel. Other GC favs follow...

The 2 leaders have 3k to go; Pozzovivo is about 2:00 back...

Pozzovivo drives on alone...he's got :30 on the Pink Jsy
grp.

Behind, Evans can just follow wheels;

Pozzo catches and passes Barbin.

Malacarne and Weening sprint for the win...

Weening takes it at the line!

Malacarne is of course, second.

Pozzovivo gets 3rd at +:42, and gains : 26 on the small GC
grp. (plus 3rd place time bonus).

**************************************************************

REST DAY 2; Monday
5.19.14

**************************************************************

5.20.14: STAGE 10

173k from Modena to
Salsomaggiore Terme.

Flat

Break (2)= Fedi
(NRI-3rd time in Brk), and Bandiera
(AND - in his 4th Break!).

At -85k their lead is about 6:30;

The lead maxed out at around 8:35.

At -50k the lead is 3:00.

Still about 3:30 with about 20k to go.

Crash: Rovny, Eijssen

-9k: The peloton brings the break back quickly, and Cataldo
takes up pace-making for SKY in front of the peloton; Boasson-Hagen takes over
next.

Bouhanni is dropped, but he manages to get back on with
about 2k to go.

Guided by one lone teammate, Bouhanni makes it up to the
front for the sprint...

...and takes another win!

1. Bouhanni2.
Nizzolo3. Matthews

**************************************************************

STAGE 11:

Wed 5.21.14249k
from Coreggio/Collechio to Savona (into Liguria).

Includes 2 cat-2's, 1 early, 1 late, before a 13k descent to
the finish sprint.

Now this is the 2nd-longest stage, since landslide made
stage six 10k longer.

Matthews DNS; Durbridge (collar bone) and Wegmann crashed
out (Wegmann completely tore left hamstring muscles in crash at around km23 [a
detached tendon of the right biceps femoris muscle]): taken to hospital.
Rubiano also abandoned.

Evans asks the Androni riders, who are driving the pace in
the front of the peloton, if they might slow up to wait for his lieutenant.
Negative. (Probably not much goodwill after Evans kept the pace up after the
big peloton crash on stage 6).

Other crash victims: Sorensen, Malori,

-53k: Deignan, wheel change. Trying to catch back up to the
break, but the peloton are closing the gap now...

-50k: Peloton trails by 2:08. Deignan is about :25 behind
the leaders.

-40k lead= 1:18, on early ramp up to the final climb.

cat 2 Nasso di Gatto 7k at 8% section, shallower at bottom
and top.

Morabito is back with the BMC guys, who are now pushing it
at the front of the peloton.

On the climb:

Bongiorno leaps from the break, Roche chases and passes him
in front...

2nd CLI: cat-1 Alpe Noveis: About 9k, with a 711m drop, up
to 1099m elev; 1st 3k are easy, then 5k of steeps, averaging 11.4% and maxing
out around 16% early on; the top has a dip for respite, and then 10% kick up,
before leveling off in the final few hundred meters.

cat-1 Santuario di Oropa: 11.8k from 409m up to 1142 m (733m
drop); Max13.5%; steepest in the
middle; the first 5k are very easy, the remainder averages about 8% along a
staircase climb of continually varying grades.

Roche has been reeled in by the other leaders.

Timmer must have gone off the front.

-6k:

2nd chase grp: Hesjedal, Rolland, Izaguirre, and Zoidl.

-5.3k: Cataldo and Cattaneo accelerate off the front.

-4.7k: Wellens and Roche get on with them. and Pantano?

Behind, Quintana and Pozzovivo lead the pel. chase.

Pantano may be pulling away...

Wellens is in the lead now.

Santaromita may be chasing?

No time gaps available..

Contrary to the published profile, Carlton Kirby is saying
the road flattens out in the last km.